May 19, 2009—Meet “Ida,” the small “missing link” found in Germany that’s created a big media splash and will likely continue to make waves among those who study human origins.

In a new book, documentary, and promotional Web site, paleontologist Jorn Hurum, who led the team that analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil seen above, suggests Ida is a critical missing-link species in primate evolution (interactive guide to human evolution from National Geographic magazine).

(Among the team members was University of Michigan paleontologist Philip Gingerich, a member of the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, which owns National Geographic News.)

The fossil, he says, bridges the evolutionary split between higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more distant relatives such as lemurs.

“This is the first link to all humans,” Hurum, of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, said in a statement. Ida represents “the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor.”

Ida, properly known as Darwinius masillae, has a unique anatomy. The lemur-like skeleton features primate-like characteristics, including grasping hands, opposable thumbs, clawless digits with nails, and relatively short limbs.

“This specimen looks like a really early fossil monkey that belongs to the group that includes us,” said Brian Richmond, a biological anthropologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study.

But there’s a big gap in the fossil record from this time period, Richmond noted. Researchers are unsure when and where the primate group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans split from the other group of primates that includes lemurs.

“[Ida] is one of the important branching points on the evolutionary tree,” Richmond said, “but it’s not the only branching point.”

At least one aspect of Ida is unquestionably unique: her incredible preservation, unheard of in specimens from the Eocene era, when early primates underwent a period of rapid evolution. (Explore a prehistoric time line.)

“From this time period there are very few fossils, and they tend to be an isolated tooth here or maybe a tailbone there,” Richmond explained. “So you can’t say a whole lot of what that [type of fossil] represents in terms of evolutionary history or biology.”

In Ida’s case, scientists were able to examine fossil evidence of fur and soft tissue and even picked through the remains of her last meal: fruits, seeds, and leaves.

What’s more, the newly described “missing link” was found in Germany’s Messel Pit. Ida’s European origins are intriguing, Richmond said, because they could suggest—contrary to common assumptions—that the continent was an important area for primate evolution.

Kim Kardashian is as known for her long brunette locks as she is for her enviable curves, but today she hit the streets of N.Y.C. with dramatically lighter hair! The reality star had taken to her Twitter page earlier in the day hinting at the hair color change, writing “Hey everyone I have a drastic new look! I’m gonna twitpic it later today!” And several hours later, a photo did appear as promised with a new note, “I WENT BLONDE!!!! Do u like it?” So help Kim out and let her know what you think of her newly lightened do. UPDATE: Kim took her to her blog later to reveal that the new look is just a wig, but she’s contemplating the change! She writes, “I did a fabulous photo shoot this weekend and they put this hair piece on! I haven’t taken it off since, because I’m really loving the look.”

Perhaps Sir Edmund Hillary – the New Zealand mountaineer and explorer – said it best when he remarked, “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” No matter how daunting the task, pure human ambition has overcome unconquerable odds to subdue the tallest peaks in the world. If mountains are the “stairway to god’s heart”, we have no doubt stood beside him as equals. The following photoset celebrates the beauty witnessed along the way.

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First climbed in 1961 by the team of Mike Gill, Barry Bishop, Mike Ward, and Wally Romanes, Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Himalaya range of eastern Nepal. Literally meaning ‘Mother and Pearl Necklace’ the peak was adopted by UK’s Invesco group as their worldwide logo and signature. After a 2006 avalanche a climbing permit along with an officer are required before you can climb Ama Dablam.

The Shivling mountain, so-called because of its status as a sacred symbol of the Hindu god, Shiva, literally means ‘the phallus of Shiva’. Considered one of the most stunning peaks of the Garhwal region, the mountain soars 21,329 feet high. The Tapovan meadow which lies between Shivling and Gaumukh has become a popular pilgrimage site due to the stunning view of the mountain from that location.

Machapuchare, or ‘fish tail’, is revered by locals as sacred to the god Shiva and therefore has been declared off limits to climbing. At about 1,500 feet taller than Shivling, Machapuchare has never been climbed to its summit. The only known attempt at accomplishing the feat fell 50m short, after which the mountain was declared forbidden to climbers.

Obama vs McCain – Whose star is shining bright in the battle for Prez? The 2008 United States presidential election is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 and Democrat Party’s nominee Barack Obama who is bidding to be the first non-white US president and the Vietnam war hero John Mccain of the Republicans are at the moment involved in a pitching battle for garnering votes through their respective no holds barred campaigns. Now, the US voters have a decision to make; Barack Obama or John McCain for president. In the light of this, Ganesha analyses the stars of both the candidates.

As per the time shown in Obama’s birth certificate, released recently, his Ascendant is Capricorn. As per his Lagna Chart, on the date of elections Saturn will be in Scorpio Navmansa, which is not a positive sign for the democrat. So, Obama might face unexpected tough fight from his opponent. He will be running Jupiter-Moon-Mercury period, which will be helpful for him.

The election date is also in his favor, which gives him an edge but complacency can affect his chances of becoming the first black US President. The placement of Mars in Obama’s chart looks threatening. He should never ignore his safety and must step up his security around the elections and also during the Jupiter-Mars period that will be effective from March 25, 2009 to March 01, 2010.

McCain is born in Aquarius Ascendant and the Lord of the Ascendant is situated in the Ascendant itself making his chart powerful. As per his Lagna Chart he also has Sun placed in its own sign and also Vargottama which signifies great leadership qualities in him. There are several noticeable planetary combinations but the current planetary configuration does not look favorable for him.

He is currently passing through Mercury-Mercury-Jupiter period. Both Mercury and Jupiter lose strength in D-9 and D-10 charts. Adding to this, transiting Rahu moving over the natal Moon and transiting Saturn moving over the natal Sun may act against his cause. The transiting Jupiter trine natal Sun may help him but the overall situation does not look favorable for winning the White House. Considering all these factors, Barack Obama, looks in better shape to win the White House. Tanmay K.Thakar (The GaneshaSpeaks Team)

The United States presidential election of 2008, scheduled for Tuesday November 4, 2008, will be the 56th consecutive quadrennial United States presidential election and will select the President and the Vice President of the United States.

The Republican Party has chosen John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona as its nominee; the Democratic Party has chosen Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois, as its nominee. The Libertarian Party has nominated former Congressman Bob Barr, the Constitution Party has nominated pastor and radio talk show host Chuck Baldwin, and the Green Party has nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ralph Nader declined to seek the Green Party nomination and is running as an independent candidate.

The 2008 election is particularly notable because it is the first time in U.S. history that two sitting senators will run against each other for president, and because it is the first time an African American is a presidential nominee for a major party, as well as the first time both major candidates were born outside the continental United States—Hawaii for Obama and the Panama Canal Zone for McCain. Since the Republican nominee for vice-president is a woman, the eventual winning ticket is very likely to be historic, as neither an African American nor a female has achieved either office. Also, the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, would be the oldest first-term president and the Democratic nominee for vice-president, Joe Biden, would be the first Roman Catholic vice president.

The election will coincide with the 2008 Senate elections in thirty-three states, House of Representatives elections in all states, and gubernatorial elections in eleven states, as well as various state referenda and local elections. As in the 2004 presidential election, the allocation of electoral votes to each state will be based partly on the 2000 Census. The president-elect and vice president-elect are scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2009.

Bangalore, Oct 25 (PTI) India’s Chandrayaan-1 has covered 20 per cent of its journey towards Moon as ISRO scientists today performed the second orbit-raising manoeuvre. The lunar spacecraft’s on-board 440 Newton Liquid engine was fired for about 16 minutes from 5.48 am.

With this engine firing, Chandrayaan-1’s apogee (farthest point to earth) has been raised to 74,715 km, while its perigee (closest point to earth) has been raised to 336 km, ISRO spokesperson S Satish said. ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair termed today’s orbit-raising operation as “record-breaking”.

“So far, Indian-made satellites have reached to a height of only 36,000 km. Today’s firing has taken Chandrayaan-1 to something like 75,000 km.

That’s well beyond what we have reached so far. It was a good event, and done precisely,” Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Indicating the complexity of the India’s first unmanned lunar mission, he said when the spacecraft is closer to the earth, its gravitational field is well defined and scientists can shape the trajectory. “When you go further and further, earth’s influence comes down.

Influence of Moon and Sun becomes predominant. Even other planets will have an influence on it,” he said.

Moon lies at a distance of about 3,84,000 km from earth. ISRO officials said Chandrayaan-1 is expected to settle into lunar orbit, 100 km above Moon, on November 8.

All systems on board the spacecraft, launched on October 22, were functioning normally, ISRO said, adding that further orbit-raising manoeuvres to take Chandrayaan-1 to still higher orbits are planned in the next few days.

The proficiency and speed for calculating faster than calculator has been achieved by 18 out of 8,000 kids from Andhra Pradesh enrolled for Abacus and Braindemy SDN BHD, Malaysia.

The Sildren. It is combing the best from the Far. “How many of us including adults can mentally nds. Even using calculator, many of us adults might find dty kids do. And that too they visualise and give answer in less decimals, squares, cubes upto 5 digits. of the best in the Similar record feat is achieved earlier by Tdia to have produced 18 grandmasters in Abacus and Bkids after going through the marathon training programme of eigr programmes, followed by Basic Level and three lev SIP Academy has 65,000 kids undergoing these programmes ndergoing SIP Abacus and Br said.